Partnering and the Future

In reading my first blog I assume that many may wonder why, in my definition of true collaboration, there would be a need to extend the [SharePoint] site out to the public - instead of the default intranet situation that usually exists. ...After all it is a huge leap forward to enable people of large (or small), spread out organizations to work together despite the geographical or departmental boundaries that separate them.

True, it is HUGE to enable people in organizations to work together in virtual workspaces - and it is enabling to say the very least. However, as we move forward into the future of technology, the boundaries as we see them today will change. In my opinion, very little collaboration will be limited to internal operations. Most of our future collaboration will extend well beyond corporate boundaries and force us to 'partner' with sister-organizations.

For example, in the Construction industry, Contractors must partner with sub-contractors (as they have always had to). However today they also partner with Design Engineers, Traffic Control Officers, Environmental Agencies and others. Those that they partner with must be able to approve and comment on their submittals - forcing them to collaborate outside of their own organizations with others that may, or may not have, the same agenda. However, in order to do their work efficiently, and to avoid litigation, they must accept that partnership for the sake of the end result (the project or mission).

These kind of partnerships can be painful and difficult to manage, with or without technology. But effective use of technology can improve communications and diminish some of the most common challenges.

In short, we (teams and businesses) are no longer working alone - or made up of one organization. The business world requires we work together in ways we may have been able to avoid in the past (no comment on whether this is good or bad).

True Collaboration is Open to the "Public"

Before exploring SharePoint I began using Documentum eRoom products. eRoom was the platform of choice only because the client had it handy and was willing to see where our firm could go with it to create a truly collaborative environment. And it worked. But as we all know SharePoint is coming into the marketplace with all guns loaded, and therefore it will take a stand that any consultant simply can not ignore. So, I have turned my attention to SharePoint hoping to find a Microsoft-based solution to the same business problems.

Main Question:

Is SharePoint a platform for true collaboration, or is it just a souped up Public Exchange Folder? At this early stage in my investigation, I would assume it is somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, and the purpose of this blog is to capture the conclusions that surface during this investigation.

Truly Collaborative:

I probably should define what I mean by 'truly collaborative' - since that is the focus of this blog. All of the bullets below should be true for any virtual/digital environment in question for it to be qualified as truly collaborative in the context of this blog:

• Users may securely access the site with a user name and password
  
• The 'Users' do not have to be in the same company/network/organization or geographical location to view, and work together, within the site (redundancy intended here)
  
• Tasks can be assigned with due dates, assigned to any member of the site, and are trackable both from the assignee point of view, and the assigning party point of view
  
  The assignee; should be able to read and understand what needs to be done (ideally with the ability to retrieve resources attached to the assignment), as well as the ability to update the percent complete.
  
  The assigning party; should be able to view reports on what is being done and what remains to be done, as well as be able to analyze what may later be required, at a high level of detail, or as targeted key performance indicators.
  
• Tasks accomplished on the site can be document related (not software specific though), or simply mission related which may require a number of document formats to complete
  
• Collaboration should include the ability to review documents or images, chat live and/or conduct 'real time' meetings [Ideally this kind of review and on-line discussion should be able to include the often neglected engineering world of AutoCad files.]
  
• The 'Collaboration' done on the site, although centralized, is keeping track of who is doing what, and when, for any collaborative effort in progress on the site
  
• There is a way to gather Best Practices, and Finalize/Approve Documents during, or, at the end of the collaboration life cycle.

I look forward to your comments on any of the bullets above, and how they relate to SharePoint 2003/2007 environments. Let's examine the pluses and minuses together.